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Lake Grove robber lands in prison for life

'Three strikes' law will keep Michael Baird Jordan in prison for the rest of his days

Michael Baird Jordan, 68, received two mandatory consecutive life sentences Monday for armed bank robbery and use of a firearm in relation to a violent crime in Lake Grove.

U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown imposed the sentences in Portland under the federal 'three strikes law,' which requires life imprisonment for commission of a serious violent felony after two or more convictions for other serious violent felonies. Brown imposed a third life sentence for Jordan being a felon in possession of a firearm under the Armed Career Criminal Act.

A federal jury convicted Jordan of the July 27, 2006, armed robbery of the Lake Grove Branch of Bank of America. Jordan's getaway plans went awry when he lost the keys to a stolen van he had parked outside the bank. He abducted and car-jacked a teenager at gunpoint, ordering him to drive a short distance before forcing the teenager out of the car. Jordan then drove to his own car, which was parked at a nearby church. When a Tigard police officer pursued Jordan southbound on Interstate 5, Jordan accelerated to speeds of more than 115 mph, leading police on a five- mile chase that ended when he surrendered in Wilsonville. Jordan had three loaded firearms in the car - two pistols and an assault rifle - possibly ready for use in case of a shoot-out.

Jordan's criminal history began in 1966 with federal convictions for three bank robberies in Orange County, Calif. After release from prison, Jordan was convicted in 1980 for two bank robberies in the San Francisco Bay area. In 1987 a jury convicted him of multiple counts of armed robbery, attempted murder, and assault with a firearm at a bank in Sunnyvale, Calif. While fleeing that robbery, Jordan shot and gravely wounded an armored car guard who attempted to apprehend him, authorities said.

Under federal law, Jordan's life sentences carry no possibility of release or parole.

United States Attorney Karin J. Immergut commended and thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Lake Oswego Police Department and the Tigard Police Department for their hard work in Jordan's apprehension and prosecution.

'Michael Baird Jordan is exactly the type of violent career criminal Congress had in mind when it wisely enacted a mandatory life sentence under the three-strikes law,' Immergut said.